A taste of the old days

With a close proximity to the World Natural Heritage Site Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, Chay Lap is firmly on the tourist map. The village offers visitors a "hands-on" experience of rural Vietnam.

Some might define the perfect getaway from the city as a country retreat on the doorstep of a celebrated national park, with mountain biking, forest trekking, or kayaking along majestic rivers all as feasable options. So far, Chay Lap Village in Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province fits the bill, but we are in Vietnam, so what better way to top it off with than some cultural authenticity?

The village offers tourists the chance to live the life of a Vietnamese farmer, sharing an old traditional house and helping farmers plant vegetables and feed the livestock. Visitors can fish in the river and plough the fields with a buffalo.

The homestay service was introduced at the village about a year ago and organized by the community with the Green Future Fund, which supports local people with capital and guidance. The project has a very altruistic side. Many of the families involved used to make a living illegally exploiting the forest around the heritage site for timber and wild animals. The homestays provided the farmers with an alternative means to subsidize their meager incomes. Now, most of the wooden houses in the village have been refurnished to welcome tourists.

Even when you want a break from working the land, a simple bicycle tour will find you retracing the steps of Vietnam’s history. One can follow a winding road past a forest management station and find themself meandering along a section of the historic Ho Chi Minh Trail, witness to many fierce battles during the American War, the scars of which can still be seen today. It is very humbling to look up from the historic trail at the timeless backdrop of mountains, unchanged for centuries.

After about 10km, the trail leads past a steep slope and into an immense field. You will find yourself at a river bank where a boat waits to take you back to Chay Lap. Those who like kayaking can explore the surrounding on a different route. Rowing along Chay River, you can visit Toi Cave and admire the breathtaking beauty of mountain cliffs and catch a glimpse of the many grey Langur (Voọc duoi dai) and other endangered animals and birds that live in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

A number of tour agents work with the village to promote their homestay service. Tourists can also organise their own trip with the help of Phuc Trach Commune’s Board of Community Tourism Management.

Enjoy some more pictures of the village, taken by photographer Jang Shilly

On the Ho Chi Minh Trail today

Thirty five years after the American War, I had an opportunity to travel on the old Ho Chi Minh Trail with some friends from Ha Noi. The scenery is breathtaking and the atmosphere is peaceful and poetic. This reminds me how beautiful the country is.

Transporting goods along Ho Chi Minh trail to a Southern war zone in the 60’s

New road replacing Ho Chi Minh trail

General Giap’s headquarters

Part of Dien Bien Phu’s cemetery, with tombs of unknown soldiers

The 1600 km long trail is known by the Vietnamese as the Truong Son Trail. Built in 1959, it became a network of tracks, roads, and waterways running from North to South Viet Nam, passing through Laos and Cambodia. It provided logistical support to the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) and the North Vietnamese Army. In the early days it would take about six months to go between North to South, on foot or by bicycles or ponies. Throughout the American War the trail had carried more than one million North Vietnamese soldiers and vast quantities of war supplies to battlefields in the Southern war zones.

As we passed by a series of mountains along the Truong Son Range, I was told the Americans had dropped at least four million tons of bombs along the trail during the war. The numbers of Vietnamese deaths and wounded were also in the millions. Aside from Agent Orange, the Americans also sprayed other types of chemical defoliants. In addition, they created rain by seeding clouds, in turn producing mudflows -- attempting to destroy the jungle path.

It was in the 90's, when Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet authorized the construction of the entire trail with concrete materials. Its width was increased up to four times. The newly built road also became highly beneficial to tribal Hmong families as it enabled them to travel from the remote mountain sites to towns and cities. Many Hmongs could do direct trading with the Kinh people, which is the majority ethnic group in Vietnam.

After nearly four hours of smooth travelling and admiring the beauty of the wilderness, we arrived in Thanh Hoa. There, we attended the ceremony of the 100th day following the re-burial of the 22nd emperor of the Le dynasty, Le Du Tong, who had reigned from 1705 to1729. Like all the 27 Le emperors, Du Tong had been buried in a secret location in Thanh Hoa. Forty six years ago, when a farmer was digging up the soil, he accidentally un-earthed the emperor's tomb. The government decided to keep the remains inside the National History Museum in Ha Noi for research. When Du Tong was first buried in 1731, his body was embalmed and dressed in 13 layers of silk gowns containing preservatives. Finally, last spring he was returned to Thanh Hoa, with a grand ceremony. His new tomb will become one of the great memorial sites. To prepare for the second burial, the local authorities had to widen the village roads to allow the 400 cars and trucks into the site. On the date of the burial, many young children climbed up into the trees to watch the coffin being lowered into the ground. Overloaded with the children, many branches fell and broke. Miraculously, nobody was injured. The locals said the emperor had protected them.

The 100th day ceremony was scheduled to begin at 3pm. However, the monks had decided to wait for us as we did not arrive until 4pm. At this ceremony, I was given the rare honor to present a scroll written in calligraphy by a Buddhist monk containing my personal wish to the Emperor's spirit. He is called "the elder gentleman". Something strange would happen soon. In that same week, I was invited to Dien Bien Phu for the commemoration of the 56th anniversary of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The trip would take 4 days by road, with stopovers in Moc Chau and Lai Chau. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Son, would lead the group. I badly wanted to visit the great old battlefield. However, I had already scheduled another trip to the Mekong Delta, concerning my charity. It would not be possible for me to include Dien Bien Phu. While feeling the anxiety, I made a prayer to "the elder gentleman". To my pleasant surprise, the dates for Dien Bien Phu were suddenly changed and we would leave Ha Noi two days earlier. The revised departure date was perfect for me, as I would be able to make the trip to the Mekong Delta after returning from Dien Bien Phu. Did the "elder gentleman" answer my prayer or was it pure chance? In either case, I felt that some spiritual force had blessed me for having committed myself to the charity.

We left the burial site in the evening. On the way back to Ha Noi, we stopped at a little restaurant near a mountain site for dinner. The pleasant waitress served us charcoal grilled wild boar. This was accompanied by fried farmer chicken, steamed fish with green bananas, and boiled wild vegetables. That was an exceptionally delicious meal. We returned to the comfortable car and were driven smoothly along. I enjoyed listening to many heart-felt war songs. The long trail circling the Truong Son mountains was most serene and one could hear the whispering of the night wind. The sky was pitch dark: mysterious, calm, and melancholic.

My journey to Dien Bien Phu a few days later included another series of scenic routes and also rough and muddy roads. The group enjoyed various local cuisines, including wild boar and buffalo meat. Early morning the next day we arrived at a hilltop overlooking the old battlefield. The grand ceremony for the deceased soldiers was solemn and powerful. The event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Buddhist Association. Nearly 100 monks and nuns were present, with a huge crowd attending each day. The great altar was filled with many varieties of fresh fruits, prepared food, and drinks. Lots of beautiful orchids and chrysanthemums were on display. Together with other overseas Vietnamese, I visited the large cemetery of the unknown soldiers. At each tomb, we lit incense for the deceased. One of the most moving aspects of the whole occasion was the consideration shown to the soldiers on both sides of the war who had died for their countries. On our last day at Dien Bien Phu, we went up to General Vo Nguyen Giap's old headquarters on top of a very steep hill. Climbing was hard physical labor. I wondered about the task of pulling the many heavy cannons uphill. I thought of the thousands of Vietnamese, known and unknown, who had lost their lives at this battle. We owe them our way of life.

As soon as I returned from Dien Bien Phu, I made a second trip to Thanh Hoa, this time with Brooke Balza, an American documentary photographer. A devoted member of the charity, she wanted to obtain many photographs of the children victims of Agent Orange. They are of the third generation of those originally infected. Witnessing their physical deformity was most disturbing. With the photos, we will hold international exhibitions to raise money in order to build therapy and skill centres in Thanh Hoa and other provinces. During the American War, a large number of young men and women from Thanh Hoa had gone South to join the nationalist forces. Of these, at least 22,000 were infected by Agent Orange. Thanh Hoa itself had also suffered massive bombing raids. In the mid 60's, when the United States started their seven year campaign against North Viet Nam with "Operation Rolling Thunder", the Thanh Hoa Bridge was a strategic target for repeated attacks. So many B-52 bombers were shot down from this bridge that the proud local residents changed its name to "Dragon's Jaw Bridge".

I now anticipate many future trips to Thanh Hoa. And I would love to travel along the Ho Chi Minh trail again. One day I would like to go along the trail all the way to the Mekong Delta.

Portland restaurateurs lead two-week culinary adventure around Vietnam

In fact, if you didn't mind the skinny legs, you might not even have noticed that you were eating grasshoppers. After the grasshopper appetizer, there were choices of grilled goat teat or raw cobra heart.

This was just another typical meal in Vietnam, especially when you're traveling with Portland restaurateurs Lam Van and Elizabeth Nguyen, owners of Portland's Pho Van and Silk restaurants.

Last March, they led a group of seven couples, along with their favorite wine distributor, Holly Wing, on a two-week culinary adventure through Vietnam.

Starting in the French-influenced capital of Hanoi, we stopped in Halong Bay to the north; Hue and Ho An in central Vietnam; and finished in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. Along the way, Lam and Elizabeth made sure that the meals were a constant -- and sometimes startling -- highlight.

Northern Vietnam

Rooftop restaurant Highway 4 was our first foray into full-contact adventure eating. With crunchy grasshoppers, fried softshell crabs, spicy squid, baby fish and seasoned mountain vegetables, our first meal in Hanoi was one of our best.

Along with dinner, we sampled a variety of Vietnamese snake wines, which have the smoky taste of a weak Scotch and are essentially the same as Japanese Habu Sake -- with the addition of a fermented snake in the bottle. We also tried scorpion and cobra wine.

Seated on the floor under a teak trellis, with a Buddhist altar behind us and piles of Vietnamese delicacies in front of us, we felt alone in the mountains of northern Vietnam. But the snake wine can make it tough to get off the floor. (5 Hang Tre St., 84 43 926 0639, http://highway4.com)

After a day spent touring the Perfume Pagoda outside Hanoi, our second dinner was far more traditional, and one that Lam and Elizabeth were particularly excited about. We enjoyed a late-night dinner at Le Verticale, where we took over the entire third floor of an elegantly restored four-story French colonial villa. With wide plank floors, gentle candlelight and ultramodern dinnerware, the room could have just as easily been in a townhouse in Ile Saint-Louis in Paris as Hanoi.

Brittany native Didier Corlu started Le Verticale two years ago after several years as the executive chef at Hanoi's Sofitel Metropole. He has artistically melded his native French cooking with the rich flavors and ingredients of Vietnam to produce one of Hanoi's top restaurants. In fact, the first floor of the villa is an elaborate spice shop.

Our six-course tasting menu included wild prawns with spring roll and sweet and sour apple, Corlu's signature ocean escabeche, pan-fried duck liver foie gras with Daikon turnip and tamarind juice, red tuna with citronella and passion fruit, Didier's own "le Corlu" cheese and soft cake of chocolate and cinnamon. Each course was as artistically presented as it was exquisitely prepared. While we just enjoyed Didier's handiwork, he also offers cooking classes every Sunday. (19 Ngo Van So St., 84 43 944 6317, http://verticale-hanoi.com)

Central Vietnam

From Hanoi, we headed to Hue, where we toured the remains of the old Imperial Citadel. The palace, being restored, was badly damaged during the Vietnam War, and bullet marks scar much of the stonework.

At a Royal Hue dinner at Restaurant Royal Park, our entire group dressed in Vietnamese imperial costumes. Peter Bishop and Janet Williamson presided as the Emperor and Empress of the Court. While the "ancient banquet" was not the culinary highlight of our adventures, traditional song, dance and instruments, as well as the elaborate decorative presentation of the dishes, provided a glimpse of Vietnamese royal life 100 years ago. (38-43 Nguyen Sinh Sac St., Vi Da, 84 54 389 7202)

From Hue, we headed to the resort town of Hoi An, almost as famous for its tailors, who can produce virtually anything overnight, as it is for its beaches. Our group spent several hours at the Yaly tailor (47 Nguyen Thai Hoc, 84 510 391 4995), having suits, saris and caftans custom-made. Hoi An was the perfect place to relax before the excitement awaiting us in Saigon.

Southern Vietnam

On our first night there, we went to rooftop restaurant 3T Vietnamese Barbecue, which was teeming with young Vietnamese, occasional expatriates and a few other tourists. The roof deck has a retractable roof, and every table has its own small propane-operated grill.

For the first course, we grilled seasoned boar, venison and goat breast to our liking, and then finished our skewers with fermented tofu dipping sauces. While the goat was a little chewy, the venison was absolutely delicious. Charred fresh okra made for a crispy side dish. Smoke engulfed the open-air restaurant, adding further ambience, and heat, to Saigon's tropical humidity. The meat course was followed by shrimp, which were brought out skewered alive, wiggling and ready to grill. With plenty of ice-cold Vietnamese beer, we spent hours enjoying the smoky rooftop. (29 Ton That Thiep, District 1, 84 83 821 1631)

We also spent a day on the famous Mekong Delta, which has been the scene of so many American movies about the Vietnam War. Today, it is a busy commercial waterway and site of fish farming. We toured several of the smaller islands in the delta and sampled the local coconut candy and rice wine.

Returning from the delta, we had our final dinner in Ho Chi Minh City at the Quan An Bistro, which offered a more traditional colonial Vietnam setting, in stark contrast to most of the city's sleek modern restaurants. But the food offered the same rich diversity of tastes and textures that are one of the hallmarks of Vietnam.

Vietnam, Venezuela set up JV in oil exploitation

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. have signed a contract to set up a joint venture to exploit oil and gas in the South American country.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, Chairman of PetroVietnam Management Board Dinh La Thang, General Director of PetroVietnam Phung Dinh Thuc and Vietnamese Ambassador to Venezuela Tran Thanh Huan attended the signing ceremony.

The JV dubbed PetroMacareo has a total investment capital of US$8 billion, to which PetroVietnam contributed $3.2 billion (40 percent).

The JV will exploit the offshore Junin-2 oil and gas block of 33 billion barrels in reserves (equivalent to 200,000 barrels per day).

The JV, which has a duration of 25 years and an extended duration of 15 years, has been Vietnam’s largest overseas investment so far.

Japan’s foreign ministry seeks ODA charter revision

Japan’s Foreign Ministry has called for the revision of Japan 's official development assistance (ODA) charter to enhance efficiency of Japanese aid.

A ministry report to review ODA policy said assistance should be given to such priority areas as poverty reduction, peace-building efforts and the promotion of sustainable growth, including projects aimed at tackling climate change.

The report stressed that peace and prosperity in the world also serve Japan's national interests.

The document, compiled by a ministry task force with advice from non-governmental aid organisations and business representatives, also seeks increased funds provided by the private sector and through the so-called “innovative financing mechanisms” such as a taxation system for airline ticket purchases adopted by France and the Republic of Korea.

The report also called for boosting Japan 's aid in overseas infrastructure projects that would also contribute to stimulating its economic growth through technology exports. It also called on Japan to provide yen loans to middle-income countries, to which it mainly offers technical assistance at present.

The Kyodo news said Japan’s ODA charter was last revised in August 2003, citing a ministry official as saying that it would take about a year for the government to amend the charter.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said at a press conference the same day that the government should consider providing USD-denominated loans instead of yen-denominated ones to avert exchange risks.

In order to enhance ODA efficiency, he said, the government should also take a coordinated approach to offer aid under a grand scheme, rather than responding to recipient nations' requests for individual projects.

With its aid being reduced for the 11th straight year, Japan has tumbled from the world’s top position to fifth place in terms of ODA disbursements and has remained at that rank in recent years.

16 foreign companies in HCMC break the law

Sixteen out of 20 businesses the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade inspected in the first half were caught flouting regulations.

Most of them were found to be employing unregistered foreign workers, operating in unauthorized industries and unregistered addresses, and not buying social and health insurance for their employees.

Five mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese representative offices, Weifang East Steel Pipe, Guangpong Tianzhi Industrial Development Co Ltd, Samesame, Samesame Co Ltd, Jettway Industrial, had unregistered workshops and were involved in unauthorized businesses.

Singapore-based Homag Asia Pte Ltd and Wing Tai Property Management Pte Ltd failed to report on their operations in Vietnam in time.

Three US-based companies were also found violating regulations -- PortoBrazil Llc’s office is not at the registered address, Nexus Technologies Inc shut down after its chief became involved in a court case, and Evergreen Timber was found using an unregistered seal.

Korean firm Sunstar Machinery Co Ltd was found to have unregistered foreign workers and Sungil International, an unregistered workshop.

Indian firm Cadila Healthcare, Indonesia’s PT Barahama Elfindo Binasejahtetra, France-based Sidel Participation, and Switzerland’s De Saga too were found flouting rules.

There are almost 2,400 foreign representative offices in Ho Chi Minh City.

Experts gather to discuss issues of integration

More than 200 experts gathered in Hanoi Thursday to discuss emerging issues of regional integration, including economic integration, media, training and climate change.

The experts, coming from various backgrounds, such as politics, business sector and civil society from all South East Asia countries met for three days during the first Regional Alumni Conference of InWEnt, Capacity Building International, Germany in Hanoi.

They will explore ways so that countries in the region can benefit from economic integration in a competitive world and the rules of game for South East Asia, the role of Media as a vehicle for regional integration, contributions of Technical Vocational Training and Education to regional integration in South East Asia as well as the urgent challenges of climate changes.

South East Asia, one of the fastest growing economic regions worldwide, is having a highly dynamic, complex and multi-layer integration process however not everyone is benefiting from this growth and process. At the same time, the world economic downturn has recently caused impacts on many nations.

“Regional integration processes can only be successful if they themselves are filled with life, if the people in the region actively participate and contribute to the deepening of cross-national ties, and if individuals take on leadership and build personal and professional networks around the region.” said Mr. Bernd Schleich, InWEnt Managing Director, in his welcoming remarks.

What actions should be taken by Southeast Asia Nations against this risk to maintain their growth and ensure the economic stability, the modernization of vocational training as well as health and social security systems in order to benefit the poors, are all the issues of concern of the conference.

Participants will not only touched upon existing concerns of governments but also discuss on how nations can shape the cooperation in a manner that fosters the welfare of all member states of South East Asia and its inhabitants.

Vietnam needs to respond to trade disputes

Knowledge of trading and the law is essential for Vietnamese businesses to cope with disputes over goods exported to the US and the European Union (EU), said a senior trade official.

The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI)’s Trade Promotion Department, Le Hoang Anh, stated this at a seminar entitled ‘International Trade and Foreign Investment’ in Hanoi Thursday.

Changes to these two markets’ trade laws and policies have a direct impact on Vietnamese producers and exporters, she said.

In fact, many Vietnamese sectors have faced difficulties and remained passive when responding to trade disputes and anti-dumping lawsuits against the country’s key exports, including frozen shrimp and catfish in the US and leather shoes and bicycles in the EU.

The majority of Vietnamese businesses have not been aware of the risks of trade disputes and are slow to respond due to their poor knowledge of the markets’ trade regulations and laws.

By giving examples of anti-dumping lawsuits against Vietnamese exports to the EU, Paulette Vander Schueren, an international lawyer in customs and international trade from the Brussels-based Mayer Brown JSM, said that many Vietnamese exports have faced unnecessary barriers.

Despite trade disputes, Vietnam’s trade mission to the US has forecast that the country’s export earnings to the US is estimated to have rise by 15 percent over 2009 to more than US$14 billion this year.

The country has also targeted achieving an export turnover of more than $12 billion in the EU market, a year-on-year rise of 14.2 percent.

The award presentation ceremony of the fifth National Tourism Artistic Photo Contest took place in Hanoi on July 1, coinciding with the opening of an exhibition showcasing the outstanding photos.

The contest and exhibition, entitled “ Vietnam – My Homeland”, are activities to mark the 50 th founding anniversary of Vietnam ’s tourism industry (July 9, 1960-2010).

The contest, launched in October 2009, had received 4,426 colour as well as black and white photos, including 121 photo sets of 456 photographers from 51 provinces and cities nationwide. Hanoi recorded the largest number of contestants with 112 photographers.

The Organising Board selected over 130 works for the final round and display. Hanoian photographer Ta Quang Bao won the special prize with his set of photos entitled “Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) Gongs” while the first prize went to Tran Cao Bao Long from Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibition, open at 29 Hang Bai, Hanoi , will last until July 5.

Farmer makes 1,000 bamboo dragons for Hanoi millennium

A farmer from northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh has devoted seven years to growing and bending 1,000 bamboo trees into the shape of flying dragons to present them for Hanoi on its millennium anniversary scheduled for October this year.

Nguyen Van Nam, said he had driven to Soc Son district, where legend puts it that Saint Giong pulled off bamboo bushes to fight against Chinese aggressors, to buy “golden” bamboo saplings to grow them at home.

“This sort of bamboo is very flexible, not as hard as green bamboos, thus making it easy to create shapes at will,” he explained.

To have 1,000 flying dragons each with a height of 1.5 m, he had to grow 2,000 bamboo trees to have much room to select the best. He had to form the dragon every day at the growth of the tree.

After more than six years, the mountainous farmer has finished the work, turning his bamboos into flying dragons heading up to the sky with pride.

Manh also grew three additional clusters of bamboo in the shape of the country and a huge “ngau” tree (aglaia) in the shape of the earth with the words “Hoa Binh” (Peace), all as presents ahead for Hanoi.

“I would like to present things of my hard work to the capital city as a token of Vietnamese farmers’ warming feelings,” he confided.

Over the past decade, Nam has presented bonsai for big events in Hanoi such as SEA Games 22 and the ASEAN Summit.

In 1998, he bent a tree into a line of words “Bac Ho Vi Dai” (Great Uncle Ho) to present it to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.